Resident challenges 2 North Haven trustees

Two incumbent trustees in North Haven face a challenger in this year's election, an uncommon occurrence in the quiet seaside village.

Lawrence LaRose, a five-year resident of the village, is trying to unseat either Jeffrey Sander or Russell "Jim" Smyth Jr. The two highest vote-getters on the ballot win the seats.

LaRose, 47, a freelance writer who is making his first try for public office, said he was urged to run by many residents after he learned of legislation regarding the installation of a 40-foot cellphone tower near the nature preserve and village hall. In asking his neighbors and others he ran into in the village about the tower, he was shocked, he said, to find that almost no one knew about it.

Communication criticized

He said he and other residents attended village meetings to speak against it.

The village has now placed a moratorium on cellphone towers and antenna installations and will repeal the laws that were put in place to start addressing the topic, said Smyth.

"The board was rushing ahead before they communicated effectively the issues," said LaRose, adding that the village could look at other types of communication antennas, such as distributed antenna systems, or DAS, which are a series of smaller antennas that are less intrusive visually. "They didn't do any homework on it."

But Smyth, 60, said many towns and villages have sought out cell antennas to get better reception for their residents -- which is a problem in the village, he said -- and to bring money into the villages' coffers. The cell towers and antennas are privately owned by communication companies that pay to use the land.

"So we heard what the people have said, and we voted to repeal it," said Smyth, a 10-year trustee and lifelong resident who owns the tavern The Corner Bar in Sag Harbor.

North Haven, an incorporated village adjacent to Sag Harbor with a little more than 1,000 residents, does not have its own police department and has a one-man highway department. It has only one commercial business, a marine repair shop.

Incumbents' records

As a four-year trustee, Jeffrey Sander said that he and other trustees have accomplished quite a lot with a cohesive board.

"We have maintained a constant low tax rate for my entire tenure even with shrinking revenues from nontax sources of income such as mortgage taxes, building permits and other permits," said Sander, 69, who grew up summering in Sag Harbor and moved to North Haven permanently in 1999.

He also noted that the village board has purchased a "significant amount" of land to be preserved and has passed building codes that reduce building sizes for newly constructed homes.

Also, the board has reduced the deer population by allowing bow hunting in restricted areas during limited times, Sander said in an email, resulting in a reduction in the deer herd in the village.

LaRose said he wants the village to look into birth control methods for the deer as well, something with which other municipalities have been experimenting.

North Haven village is about 2 square miles and has an average household income of $111,250, according to the U.S. Census.

Voting will be held Tuesday from noon to 9 p.m. at village hall, 335 Ferry Rd., Sag Harbor.